Welcome to the 2023 ARIA Author Showcase and Giveaway Event! 

  

  

How to enter – Comment on the daily showcases to enter the daily giveaway. Comments close one week after the initial Showcase post. GRAND PRIZE drawn on Dec 8th (1 -$250, 1 -$100, or a 1 -$50 Amazon gift card. One grand prize pp) – For every showcase you post on, you automatically gain one entry to the grand prize. 30 Authors = 30 entries.    

C.B. Giesinger will be at the Rhode Island Author Expo   

On to the Showcase! 

 

What name do you like to write under? C.B. Giesinger 

Where do you call home? Central RI 

What genre(s) do you write? Adult Fiction 

What genre(s) were you drawn to when you were younger? I have always held a special place in my heart for a good ghost story. The kind that while you read it, raises the hair on the back of your neck and the feeling prickles up and down your spine. 

What were some of your favorite books growing up? Why? I loved everything from R.L. Stein, Avi's" Something upstairs, Alvin Schwartz's "Scary stories we tell in the dark," Frances Hodgson Burnett "Secret garden," Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." 

What are some of your favorite books today? I still love a good thriller/mystery, ghost story or tale of love and family. Freida McFadden is a fantastic writer for some fun thrills such as "The Locked Door.", Laura Dave, who wrote "800 Grapes," Darcy Coates for a classic ghost haunting, such as her story "The Haunting of Craven Manor." But I also love a pirate story, by none other than Michael Crighton with "Pirate Latitudes."

What inspired you to become a write? When I was about four, I would go to my Nanas for Christmas. I'd find myself exploring her attic for treasures. It was filled with items from the 20s, 30s ans 40s. I'd go downstairs, find a piece of paper, a shopping list type, and write a story. When I was done, I'd read it to my family. I loved it so much, I'd fill notebooks with stories, poems, songs and eventually wrote movie scripts for my sister and I act out and then record with our dad's enormous camcorder. I even entered into a contest when I was seven and won the " Young Authors Award" in 1991. 

 

 

What Comes of Ashes 

As a prominent New York prosecutor, Charlotte Branson thought she had finally reached the pinnacle of success. Yet, when word reaches her of the death of her lifelong friend Claire, she is forced to reexamine the choices she made in her life to this moment. With Claire’s ashes in tow, she embarks on a journey through Europe, on a trip designed by Claire before her untimely passing. Each stop on the map brings Charlotte closer to finding out the reason for her quest and how she strayed so far from who she was. Along the way, she finds love, friendship, humility, and parts of her that have been missing for far too long. 

Tell us a little about how What Comes of Ashes came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else? What Comes of Ashes grew from an idea into a sort of self-therapy. While helping a character move through a devastating circumstance, I was able to come to terms with personal choices and predicaments I had once cast blamed on myself before. While the protagonist is not entirely based myself, I strongly identified with her struggle to find herself again with the help and support of those around her. 

Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book? Originally Claire was supposed to die in a car accident. I later changed the circumstance as it would fit to the storyline far better to have it be slow enough for her to not only come to terms but decide what she wished to do with her life while she had the opportunity. 

Which character was the most challenging to create. Why? The most challenging character to create was the attacker in the book. This hit hard to home as I was a victim of domestic violence when I was only twenty years old. While the attack was not precisely the same. The feeling of being filthy, beaten and broken inside and how we both dealt with it was spot on. 

What do you like best about being a writer? I like how when I write, I sit down like I'm at a movie. The reel is rolling, I'm enjoying a good bowl of popcorn and I quite literally write what I'm seeing. What is funny is that I don't read my books until they are done. And when I do finally read them, it's as though I'm reading someone else's words. As though I black out when I write. But that is half of what makes it exciting. A title comes to me and I write an entire book off of those few words. 

If you could collaborate with any author past or present, who would it be? What would the title of the book be? (If possible) - Give us a one sentence blurb. I liked to read as a kid, but having ADHD, it was hard. I really fell in love with reading Harry Potter at 30 years old. J.K. Rowling inspired me in fact to create my pen name. She changed her middle intial to represent her favorite aunt Katherine. I changed mine as well. I have been to Scotland and stood infront of the door where she wrote The Deathly Hallows and ate breakfast at the Elephant Cafe outside Greyfriar Kirkyard where she obtained some of her famous character names. I also find that inspiration is all around us and we all have the capacity to write a great story. 

You can follow C.B Giesinger here - 

www.Giesingerpublishing.com 

https://www.instagram.com/giesingerpublishing/ 

https://www.facebook.com/giesingerpublishing 

C.B is giving away a signed copy a signed copy of  "What Comes of Ashes" with a laminated bookmark. 

To enter, comment below. --> Where on this planet do you feel most like yourself? 

(Comments are open for one week)